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Mr and Mrs Smith
Mr and Mrs Smith is really a chick flick masquerading as an action film. The plot is your standard boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, although in the true spirit of dodginess, it reads more along the lines of boy meets girl, boy and girl try to kill each other, boy and girl makeup and kill everyone else.
It probably would have gone relatively unnoticed in the sea of Summer Blockbusters if it wasn’t for all the hype generated during its filming. In case you don’t know, there were a large number of rumours floating around about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie being more than just costars. Given the subsequent breakup of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, and the recent birth of twins to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, I think it’s safe to say that they weren’t rumours.
Fortunately, you don’t realise just how much of a chick flick this one really is until you’ve watched it a few times. The gun-fights car chases and explosions kind of make sure of that.
Dodginess
This one is fairly standard action fair and so scores a 3 on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man scale. As far as dodgiest moment goes, well, where to start. I could talk about the 2 armouries in the house, one in the oven and one below the garden shed. I could mention the “Strip Search Tango” or the awesome gunbattle/fight scene between Mr and Mrs Smith that destroys their house. The moment when they first realise that they are competing agents, or the final battle in the department store also qualify. And while all of these compete adequately for the title, not one of them could compare to the winner of this coveted award. Why Brad Pitt dumped the “prettiest Friends girl” to hook up with the “Hollywood Doorknob” I will never know, and that is why he gets the award for the dodgiest moment.
Rewatchability Rating
Mr and Mrs Smith, as mentioned before is fairly standard action fair, with a reasonable chick flick script. But, that doesn’t stop it from being eminently entertaining and rewatchable, achieving a 4 on the rewatchability index. The best part about watching it again is that on DVD, you can skip all the annoying slow plot building moments and go straight to the skop, skiet and donner that is the real reason you’re watching it.
Most Memorable Quote
There are a number of comments about marriage in this film which I am not allowed to like as I quite enjoy being married, although I can see how they would appeal. However the best one is probably the most cynical line from the film too. “Happy endings are just stories that haven’t finished yet.”
Final Thoughts
Even though Mr and Mrs Smith is a chick flick, it is still likely that you’ll have to burn off some brownie points to watch it. But it’s worth the small amount that it will require, and who knows, at the end of it you may even get some of the back.